Combination closure and liquid dispenser for bottles, etc.



N. GREENE Aug. 9, 1955 COMBINATION CLOSURE AND LIQUID DISPENSER FORBOTTLES, ETC

Filed Oct. 5, 1950 1 N V EN TOR. /VO/Q/W/I N GREENE e 1%@ JEM/ UnitedStates Patent O COMBINATION CLOSURE AND LIQUID DISPENSER FOR BOTTLES,ETC.

Norma Greene, New York, N. Y. Application October 5, 1950, Serial No.188,545

7 Claims. (Cl. 222-205) My invention relates to closures for bottles andother liqud containers. It relates more particularly to an improvedclosure which serves the dual functions of substantially sealing themouth of the container and dispensing the liqud from the container indesired quantities by way of a reservoir forming part of the closure.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple closurewhereby a liqud in a container, such as a drug which must be topicallyapplied, can be made easily accessible for dispensing in quantities asneeded, without subjecting the main body of the liqud to possiblecontamination, evaporation, accidental spilling or loss.

i A closure made in accordance with the invention comprises a flexibleor rubber-like body which is hollow and has at the bottom a neck adaptedtomake a tight fit around the mouth of the container. The hollow bodythus forms a recess communicating with the interior of the container,the recess being contractible by simply squeezing the sides of the body.The latter also forms, separately from the contractible recess, achamber or reservoir for dispensing adesired quantity of the liqud.Above thebottom of the reservoir is an inlet opening connected to adepending tube of suflicient length to extend into the body of the liqudin the container and to a point at or near the bottom of the container.When the sides of the closure are squeezedto contract the recess, asdescrbed, the resulting increase of the air pressure in the containerforces `some of the liqud upward through the tube and into the reservoirof the closure, from which it may be poured when and as desired. Uponrelease of the sides of the closure from the squeezing action, air isdrawn into the container by way of the tube from the reservoir, so thatthe closure recess expands to its original shape and size.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a vertical sectional View ofone form of the new closure, showing it applied to a container;

Figs. 2 and 3 are similar viewsof modified forms of the closure, showingdifferent ways of securing the closure to the container, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View of a modification of the reservoir,showing it as a separate unit which may be attached to the closure.

The closure comprses a hollow body 1 made of a flexible, rubber-likematerial. At its lower portion, the body 1 has a neck 2 adapted to makea tight fit around the neck 3 of a container 4 for the liqud to bedispensed. It will be understood that the neck 2 of the closure body maybe Secured to the container neck 3 in any desired manner so as to efiecta tight seal around the container neck. The latter, of course, forms themouth of the container. As shown in Fig. 1, the closure neck 2 isinternally threaded at 5, so that the closure body can be screwedtightly on to an externally threaded portion of the container neck 3.

The hollow closure body 1 defines a recess 6 which communicates with theinterior of the container through the interengaging necks 2 and 3, whenthe closure is applied to the container. By reason of the rubber-likequality of the closure 1, the recess 6 may be contracted by simplysqueezing the flexible sides of the closure body. When the squeezingpressure on the closure body 1 is released, the body tends to return toits original shape, thereby expandng the recess 6 to its original size.

The closure body 1 is provided with walls 7 forming a reservoir 8 forthe liqud to be dispensed. As shown in Fig. 1, the reservoir 8 extendscentrally into the recess 6 from the top of the closure body 1. Thewalls of the reservoir may be made of the same material as the closurebody 1, or they may be made of a rigid material. They may be molded asintegral parts of the closure body or they may be made as a separateunit adapted to be forced into an opening in the top of the closure bodyand removable from it. The reservoir 8 is open at the top and may beprovided with a removable cap 9 for closing the top of the reservoir.The cap 9 may be held in place frictonally or by means of conventionalthreads (not shown).

The reservoir 8 has an inlet opening 10 located above the bottom of thereservoir. The inlet opening or orifice 10 is inclined downward towardthe bottom of the reservoir. A channel 11 formed in the walls 7 connectsthe opening 10 with a depending tube 12 which is of sufi"1- cient lengthto extend to the region of the bottom of the container 4 when theclosure is applied to the container.

The operation of the closure is as follows: When the sides of theflexible body 1 are squeezed to contract the recess 6, there is anincrease in the pressure of the ent trapped air above the level of theliqud in the container 4. Consequently, some of the liqud is displacedupward through the tube 12, which may be flexible, and into thereservoir 8 by way of the inlet opening 10. Because of the downwardslope of this inlet opening, splashing of the liqud through the top ofthe reservoir is prevented even without the cap 9. The reservoir 3 isthus `filled with the liqud to the desired level below the opening 10.When the squeezing pressure on the closure body 1 is released, thetendency of the body to return to its original shape causes air to bedrawn downward from the opening 10 through the tube 12, therebyreplacing the liqud delivered into the reservoir 8. The liqud in thereservoir may be dispensed in any desired manner, as by tilting thecontainer.

In the modifications of the closure illustrated in Fgs. 2 and 3, theparts are indicated by the same reference numerals as those used in Fig.l, except that the sub- Scripts a and b, respectively, are added.Referring to Fig. 2, the fiexible closure body la has a neck 2a whichclosely receives a tapered neck 3a of the container 4a, whereby theclosure is held in position on the container by friction. If desired,the closure neck 2a may be formed V with an internal bead 13 adapted toengage an external annular recess in the neck of the container, so as tohold the closure more firmly in position. Referrng to Fig. 3, theclosure body 1b has a neck 21) which fits closely within the containerneck 311, the fit being sufficiently tight to hold the closurefrictionally in position on the container. A shoulder 14 of the closurebody engages the rim of the container neck when the closure has beenapplied to the container.

In some cases, it may be desired to provide a reservoir having avariable capacity, such a reservoir being illustrated in Fig. 4. Asthere shown, the bottom of the reservoir is formed by a plunger 15 whichmay be raised or lowered to decrease or increase, respectively, thereservoir capacity. If desired, one of the side walls of the reservoirmay be provided with graduations 16 to indicate the capacity of thereservoir for any setting of the plunger 15. The use of the reservoirillustrated in Fig. 4

is of particular advantage when accurately measured quantities of liquidare desired in the reservoir. It will be observed that the reservoir 8c,as illustrated in Fig. 4, is made separately from the closure body andmay be inserted through a central opening in the top of this body, thereservoir unit having at the top an external flange 17 adapted to restupon the top of the flexible closure body.

The Simplicity of its Construction and its wide adaptability render myinvention available for a large number of uses. Examples of such usesinclude the dispensing of topically applied drugs, such as iodine andmercurochrome, it being understood that a cotton swab may be dipped intothe solution in the reservoir 8, thereby minimizing the possibility ofcontaminating the main body of liquid in the container. The closure willhold evaporation and spillage losses in the main body of liquid in thecontainer to a minimum. Moreover, when the inlet opening 10 of thereservoir is small, the liquid from the container will not be ejectedinto the reservoir except when pressure is applied to the closure. Bymaking the orifice or opening 10 sufliciently small, the reservoir 8 maybe rnsed without contaminating the liquid in the container. The size ofthe opening 10 and the diameter of the tube 12 may be varied as requiredfor liquids of different vscosities or for more rapid dispensing of theliquid. The shape and size of the reservoir 8 may be designed ormodified as needed.

The closure of my invention may also be used for the dispensing of ink,in which case the reservoir 8 will serve as a receptacle for the pen.Additonally, the closure may be used for dispensing eye-wash lotions, inwhich case the reservoir 8 may serve as a cup to be applied directly tothe eye.

The subject matter of this application is an improvement over thesubject matter disclosed in my application Serial No. 154321, filedApril 6, 1950, now Patent No. 2,559,446, dated June 3, 1952.

I claim:

1. In a closure for a container having a mouth, the combination of anexpansible and contractible hollow body made of a flexible, rubber-likematerial, the body having a top and depending side walls defining arecess which is contractible by squeezing the side walls nwardly, thebody having a reservoir depending from the top into said recess andprovided with an inlet opening located above the bottom of thereservoir, said side walls terminating at their lower portion in a necknear the bottom of the reservoir, said neck having a mouth-engagingportion adapted to make a scaling fit around said mouth and afordingcommunication between the recess and the interior of the container, thebody having walls separating said recess from atmosphere and separatingthe reservoir from said recess except for said inlet opening above thebottom of the reservoir, and a tube depending from the closure andcommunicating with said opening to convey liquid to the reservoir fromthe container upon squeezing said side walls.

2. The combination according to claim 1, comprising also said container,the container having a neck forming said mouth and received tightly inthe neck of said body.

3. The combination according to claim 1, comp'ising also said container,the container having a neck forming said mouth and receiving the neck ofsaid body with a tight fit,

' 4. The combination according to claim 1, in which the reservoirextends centrally into said recess from the to of the hollow body. i

5. The combination according to claim 1, in which the reservoir is openat the top, and comprsng also a removable cap coverng the top opening ofthe reservoir.

6. The combination according to claim 1, comprising also a plungermovable in the reservoir to vary its capacity.

7, The combination according to claim 1,' comprising also graduations ona side wall of the reservoir. i

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS570,959 Rudolph Nov. 10, 1896 876225 Osgood Jan. 7, 1908 1,075 ,469Emeis Oct. 14, 1913 2,119,307 Ashley May 31, 1938 2,170,699 Terry Aug.22, 1939 2, 233,942 Frey Mar. 4, 1941 2,599,446 Greene June 3, 1952

